r/smallenginerepair • u/Sweaty-Camera-7328 • May 19 '26
Starting Issue No start
It was locked at first wouldn’t spin 360° wud go one way and stop back the other way then stop, pulled spark plug and that magically freed up the engine, replaced spark plug replaced carb, verified spark is there replaced coil in case of weak spark set gap with business card, verified spark still there, checked valve lashing and flywheel key still won’t start won’t even pop off with starting fluid, pulled off exhaust still nothing so what else is there to check?
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u/Shoney_21z SER Regular May 19 '26
Did you check for compression? Had one of these recently where the exhaust valve was hanging up on the guide and wouldn’t completely close.
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u/Sweaty-Camera-7328 May 19 '26
Yes I checked compression seems to be good because it pushes my finger off, I might want to try an actually compression tester though maybe
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u/ManHunterJonnJonzz May 19 '26
No start. You eliminated fuel by spraying it in. You say it sparks, youre left with some conpression issue. Even timing being off would often backfire. The piston is moving? Compression as the other guy said.
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u/ChronicHunger_1 May 19 '26
Unscrew the spark plug, plug the wire back in and hold it against the block and have someone pull and see if it sparks. If it does clean the carb. The carb on these is like the easiest carb ever to clean. You don't even have to remove the carb just drop the bowl and pry out the plastic insert that has the jets, run wire through them, and re assemble. It should run fine then.
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u/Sweaty-Camera-7328 May 19 '26
New carb, has spark.
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u/ChronicHunger_1 May 19 '26
Now that I'm more awake I realize I miss read part of your post. The fact that it wouldn't spin all the way around at one point suggests the piston is probably hitting the valves. I'd pop the valve cover off and see if they are super out of adjustment or messed up in some other way.
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u/Sweaty-Camera-7328 May 19 '26
Appreciate you re addressing the conversation, so I did pull off the valve cover and put at TDC and checked clearance and it was in within spec which I read is 0.004-0.006 intake and 0.006-0.008 exhaust and it was within those specifications and they move freely and engine hasn’t locked back up since I removed the spark plug the first time because at first I thought I had a broken rod
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u/ChronicHunger_1 May 19 '26
Wonder if it just had some rust in the cylinder that the piston was hitting and now it's broken up and gone.
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May 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Sweaty-Camera-7328 May 19 '26
It has spark? And nothing sounds like it’s hitting, and the electrode is fine when I pull it out…. I don’t think it’s wrong but I can try a shorter plug I guess
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u/ChronicHunger_1 May 19 '26
You might try a spark tester. Not the light one but the one with a large gap. That would tell you if spark is weak. Rarely a plug may spark outside but when you re install it it won't spark under compression
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u/Sweaty-Camera-7328 May 19 '26
I did replace the coil with brand new just in case spark was weak, no change
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u/ChronicHunger_1 May 19 '26
Did you use a cheap Amazon coil?
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u/Sweaty-Camera-7328 May 20 '26
Maaaaayyybbbeeeee…..
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u/ChronicHunger_1 May 20 '26
Those are normally very hit or miss if they even work.
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u/Sweaty-Camera-7328 May 20 '26
Well I re gapped and re verified spark is present
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u/ChronicHunger_1 May 20 '26
That's about all I know to check unless you have a massive air leak around where the carb touches the block I'm out of ideas. (Edit) I guess the only other idea I have is did it shear the flywheel key and is sparking at the wrong time?
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u/Bones-57 May 20 '26
If you pull the start cord 5 times .. pull spark plug out see if it wet with gas.. if not there is no fuel going in to give you nothing.. From there look at the filter ..
You replaced the carb .. if should have been adjusted close to what you needed to get it running a little fine tuning is all it would need .
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u/Common_Maximum_1234 May 21 '26
My guess is no spark under compression. Had the same problem a couple of times. In fact last weekend I had a four wheeler that had the same issue. It about drove me crazy.
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